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Valued at $99, click below to receive our just-released report
predicting the 7 stocks that will soar highest in the coming month.
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Linde's (LIN) Q1 Earnings Beat Estimates on Higher Prices
Linde plc (LIN - Free Report) reported first-quarter 2023 adjusted earnings of $3.42 per share, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.12. The bottom line improved from the year-ago quarter’s profit of $2.93.
Total quarterly revenues of $8,193 million beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $8,039 million. The top line, however, declined from the year-ago quarter’s $8,211 million.
Strong quarterly earnings were driven by increased prices and volumes across beverage and manufacturing, and food end markets.
Linde PLC Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Linde PLC price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Linde PLC Quote
Segmental Highlights
The operating profit of Linde in the Americas segment was up 13.4% year over year to $1,025 million on increased pricing and volumes, aided by beverage and manufacturing and food end markets.
Linde’s profit in the EMEA segment increased 20.7% year over year to $607 million due to an uptick in pricing, partially nullified by a decrease in volumes.
Profit in the APAC segment increased 6% year over year to $423 million on an uptick in prices and volumes, primarily in the chemicals, electronics and energy end markets, comprising project start-ups.
Operating profit in the Engineering segment increased to $149 million from the prior year’s $143 million.
Backlogs
At the end of the first quarter, the company’s high-quality backlog was $7.7 billion, comprising a sale-of-gas backlog of $4.2 billion.
Capital Investment & Balance Sheet
Linde reported capital expenditure of $829 million for the March quarter. The company ended the quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $4.96 billion. Linde’s long-term debt was $11.7 billion.
Guidance
For the June-end quarter, Linde projects adjusted earnings per share between $3.40 and $3.50. For 2023, it has raised its adjusted diluted earnings per share to $13.45-$13.85.
The company expects capital expenditure of $3.5-$4 billion for the year.
Zacks Rank & Other Stocks to Buy
Currently, Linde carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). Other prospective players in the basic material space include FMC Corporation (FMC - Free Report) ,PPG (PPG - Free Report) and United States Steel Corporation (X - Free Report) . While FMC and PPG carry a Zacks Rank #2, United States Steel sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
FMC Corporation is a well-known name for being an agricultural sciences company on a global scale. In the past 30 days, FMC has witnessed upward earnings estimate revisions for 2023.
PPG is also well known for developing and delivering paints, coatings and specialty materials. In the past 30 days, PPG has witnessed upward earnings estimate revisions for 2023.
United States Steel is a leading producer of steel. In the past 30 days, X has witnessed upward earnings estimate revisions for 2023.